Cautionary tales to protect children are a cross-cultural phenomenon. From stepping over pavement cracks to prevent an immediate attack of the ursidae variety or the immediate shattering of your own mother’s spine to the cannibalistic ‘Basket Woman’ of Native American Folklore who will hit you in the head with a stick and boil you should you dare to venture out past bedtime; the use of fear to quell rebellion in children is universal. 1,220 more words